Leave The Past Behind
by Kylara Kitsune
Summary: Cloud and Tifa had been a couple until they arrived in Traverse Town, where Cloud met Leon. This is Tifa's story.
1. Prologue

**AN: I started this story, intending it to be a one-shot. It completely ran away with me and wrote itself. Nearly four thousand words in, I realised it was going to be way too long for a one shot. I'm currently at 8600 words, with quite a lot still to write. This is the prologue, and it's prompt 33 from my list - "Expectations."**

"I love you. I'll always love you, and always have done. That doesn't matter, though, because at the end of the day, it just isn't enough. If we'd stayed in Nibelheim, or maybe even Midgar, perhaps we could have stayed together, grown old together. I wanted, hoped, expected that to happen. But our lives have never been that simple. You ran away to join SOLDIER, then came back and helped us to save the world. Just when we thought life was getting back to normal, the darkness swamped us and we ended up here, in Traverse Town.

Even that, in itself, wasn't the problem. No, I realised that you and I were never meant to be when I saw you with Leon. You weren't cheating on me - I know you'd never do that. But there was a chemistry between you - it just looked so right. If you've realised it, which you probably haven't. You always were slow when it came to matters of the heart.

I wish you both all the best for the future, and I hope that some day, we'll meet again. Maybe, by that time, I'll have found someone who makes me as happy as you'll make each other.

I'm leaving this letter with Aerith. She's going to give me a week to get clear of the town, then give this to you to read. Please, don't come looking for me. I intend to come back, I promise, but I do need some time to myself.

Love always, Tifa.

PS. Don't be mad at Aerith. She's only doing what I asked."

Silently, Cloud handed the letter to Leon with a trembling hand. Tifa had been the one constant in his life, the one thing he knew he could always rely upon. Now, he'd lost her, and he wasn't certain she'd ever come back, despite what she'd said.

"You've had this letter for a week?"

Aerith nodded. "I didn't know what was in it - Tifa didn't tell me."

"She'll be miles away by now, Cloud." Leon placed one hand on the blond's shoulder, hoping to calm him down before he took out his anger on Aerith.

"What I want to know is how she knew about us before anything even happened," Cloud grumbled.

"Like she said, you're somewhat slow. Besides, she's observant."

Cloud just grunted. He objected to being called slow.

Timidly, Aerith spoke up again. "All we can do now is wait for her to return."


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: I lost interest in this story for a while, after writing several thousand words. Here's chapter 1. I realised after writing it into the plot that Mognet was from FFIX, not FFVII. I've decided I really don't care.**

Tifa Lockhart was miles away from Traverse Town. She'd had Cid build her a copy of Cloud's motorbike, Fenrir, which meant she could travel much faster than on foot. Currently, she'd rented a room in a small village, at least four days away from Traverse Town. She didn't remember the name of the place, but it didn't really matter. The room was cheap, the local café was good, and there was even a moogle, meaning she could use the familiar Mognet system of messages, assuming anyone was still alive in her world to receive them. Still, it was worth a try, so she scrawled a quick message to Barrett and Marlene at the bar.

Just as she sat down for a meal, a bedraggled figure wandered in, looking around as though completely lost. The waitress was about to throw him out, when Tifa recognised the voice, and invited him to stay. He sat down opposite her, and pushed his hood back to reveal the face she remembered.

"Tifa Lockhart, this is a surprise."

"I'm as shocked to find you here, Reno. Not with the Turks any more?"

"However could you tell?"

"Oh, the clothes, maybe." The obvious lack of money was the reason, since she'd never seen him looking so scruffy before. Actually, now that they were sitting at the same table, she could tell how badly he needed a wash. His hair hung in lank, dirty locks around his face, and there was a distinct unwashed smell.

"Reno, could you do me a favour?" She pushed her room key across the table to him. "Use my room, and have a bath. I'll bring the food up when it's ready."

"Sure you trust me? I might go rummaging in your things."

"There's nothing worth stealing, trust me."

It didn't take any persuading. He took the key and went. Tifa stayed at the table, waiting. It seemed to take a long time, now that she was alone again. When the meals arrived, she carried them upstairs, using the skills she'd acquired long ago, back in the bar, to get there without dropping anything. Setting the plates down, she knocked on the bathroom door. Reno poked his head round, and a cloud of steam billowed out.

"Do't suppose you've got any clothes I can borrow?" Tifa looked at him doubtfully. He grinned, unconcerned. "Didn't think so. I already looked."

"I thought you might have done, somehow."

He emerged from the bathroom wearing only a towel tied around his hips. Tifa averted her eyes. "Like what you see, Lockhart?"

"You wish, Reno. You wish."

They ate in silence for the most part, both avoiding the question of why they were there without their usual companions, and the second question of why they weren't trying to kill each other. Eventually, Reno worked up the courage to ask. "Where's your spiky-haired blond friend?"

"Cloud? Probably fucking his new boyfriend stupid." The words came out more harshly than she intended.

"Oh, Tifa. Not bitter about it, are we?"

She opened her mouth to deny the accusation, then closed it again without speaking. If she allowed herself to admit it, then she was somewhat bitter about the whole scenario. "Maybe," was the cautious answer she gave.

Reno smiled knowingly. Maybe, in this instance, definitely meant yes.

"Oh, ok. Yes, I'm bitter about it. It's not what I expected to happen, after all." It was a grudging admission, but she knew there was no way of changing his mind. She might as well tell the truth and be done with it.

They talked long into the night, all previous animosity set aside in this new setting. They weren't in Midgar, they had no good reason to fight. It surprised Tifa how easily they could leave the past behind, start afresh.

It was well past midnight when Tifa yawned, prompting her to look at the clock on the wall. "Is that really the time? I hadn't realised it was so late."

"Neither had I."

Reno still wore nothing but a towel, since his old clothes smelled rather like a rubbish tip, and were little better than rags anyway. He couldn't exactly leave the room in that state. Realising this, Tifa gestured to the second bed. "There's two beds and only one of me. You might as well sleep there tonight."

"Will you fetch me something to wear in the morning?"

"Of course."

Reno, it appeared, fell asleep almost instantly, once his head hit the pillow. Tifa, on the other hand, lay awake, tossing and turning. Her mind drifted back to Traverse Town - she couldn't help wondering what was going on, whether Cloud and Leon had realised how perfect they were for each other, whether they were furious at Aerith or not. She'd intended to move again in the morning, just in case anyone was looking for her. Now, though, she wasn't sure. The appearance of Reno had thrown her plans into disarray. Maybe he'd like to go with her - he seemed glad enough of the company.

In the morning, he seemed well rested, while she couldn't stop yawning. As if realising that she wasn't in the mood to deal with his antics, he remained under the blankets, since he still didn't have anything to wear. With a despairing sigh, Tifa gathered some money and went out shopping. Her belongings, back in the hotel room, wouldn't be stolen, but it was almost certain that Reno would look through them all.

Arriving at the small collection of shops, a moogle greeted her with a message - from Aerith and Yuffie. Tifa wasn't certain how they'd managed it - bribed one of the moogles in Traverse Town, maybe - but she was grateful nevertheless.

"Tifa, Cloud and Leon are scouting around for you. We hope this reaches you before they do. Good luck. Aerith and Yuffie."

Tifa didn't know how long it had taken for the letter to find her, but she knew it was definitely time to move on. Quickly, she purchased clothes for Reno, and hurried back to the hotel, hoping it wasn't already too late.

Opening the door to the hotel room, she found Reno, a sheet draped around him like a toga, totally engrossed in rummaging through her clothes. Specifically, her underwear. "Reno, put that down!"

He held up a particularly lacy bra, one she'd bought just before the darkness enveloped Midgar. "I like it, Lockhart. Intended to impress someone, was it?"

"What does it matter to you, Reno?" She tossed the bag of clothes to him. "Get dressed, and hurry up about it."

"What's the rush?" Regardless, he pulled on the garments. Tifa had estimated his size correctly, and it all fitted.

"I have to leave."

"So soon? I only just got here." He grinned, but she didn't even notice. She was too busy stuffing her possessions into a backpack.

"You can come along if you want."

"Where are you going?"

Tifa looked up, suddenly realising she had no destination in mind. Well, Traverse Town lay to the east... "I'm travelling west. I don't know what's there, but there's bound to be something."

"If you don't mind a passenger, I'm intrigued."

"Passenger?"

"I'm assuming the spectacular bike outside is yours."

"Yes, it is."

They cleared everything in the room away in record time, paid the bill and left. Tifa's hands were shaking so badly she could barely start the bike.

"Lockhart, unless you calm down, you're going to kill us both. Here, I'll drive for a bit." Tifa allowed him to sit in front of her, and placed her arms around his waist. She had no idea if he could ride or not, but at least he wasn't panicking. To her surprise, he knew exactly what he was doing, and they joined the main road, heading west.

Two hours later, they paused for a rest. Reno prised Tifa's arms away from his waist, where she'd been clinging tightly. "It's ok, Tifa, you can let go now."

Tifa opened her eyes and looked around, then clambered off the bike. She'd always thought she rode fast (faster than Cloud, anyway), but Reno had just proved her wrong. She was somewhat surprised to find bother herself and the bike were completely undamaged. She breathed a sigh of relief. "How far have we travelled?"

"Oh, I suppose about a hundred and ninety miles."

Tifa spun round to look at Reno, then leaned on the bike for support. "In two hours?"

"Tifa, Tifa, Tifa. You're the one who wanted to get away."

"I know, but..." She shook her head in disbelief.

Reno took her arm and lef her into the café, ordering drinks for them both. He wasn't used to Tifa being uncertain about anything, let alone nervous, but she definitely was. Her comment the night before about Cloud's new boyfriend had sparked his interest, and must have something to do with her actions. He wasn't going to press for details though - if she wanted to talk about it, she would. They stayed in the tiny village for an hour or so, when Tifa decided it was time to get back on the road. This time, though, she was driving, and the pace, while not slow, was much more reasonable. Reno couldn't help remarking that he'd expected her to be more daring, ut she simply retorted that she didn't have a death wish.

Evening found them approaching a shabby-looking town, and they decided to spend the night there. They asked for directions to a hotel or inn, and eventually found the only place in town with guest rooms.

"I'm very sorry, but we've only got the one room that's clean."

Reno and Tifa looked at each other, and shrugged. "That's fine." Reno took the key and led the way to the room. He unlocked the door, then stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" Tifa, standing behind him, couldn't see anything.

"I hope you don't hog the bed, Lockhart." He moved forwards, and she followed him into the room. A room that contained only one double bed.

"Oh, no." Dismay was evident in Tifa's voice.

"We'll cope."

Getting into the same bed was awkward. For the first time, they glared at each other, threatening looks that indicated the other person had better stay on their side of the bed, or else there would be trouble.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The next morning, Tifa was woken by sunlight streaming through the thin curtains, and the sound of birds singing. She felt surprisingly warm and comfortable, and wondered for a moment where she was. Opening her eyes, she realised that during the night, she and Reno had drifted towards each other, and he currently had his arms around her. Luckily, he was still asleep. Slowly, she started to move, lifting his arms and sliding along the bed away from him.

"Morning, Tifa." It turned out Reno wasn't actually asleep at all, and was finding the situation somewhat amusing. "I see you couldn't resist my charms after all."

"Charms? I'm not certain you have any."

Try as she might, Tifa couldn't ignore the way Reno was watching her - it was a look that Cloud had never turned in her direction, a definite lust-filled look. It scared her slightly - not so long ago, Reno had been an enemy. Feeling very uncomfortable all of a sudden, Tifa jumped out of the bed, rushed across the room and locked herself in the bathroom. These were thoughts she shouldn't be having around Reno - it just wasn't right. They could only just (at a push) be described as friends. Anything more was simply out of the question.

Reno laughed. Tifa thought it was an accident, the two of them ending up lying like that. It wasn't. He'd woken early, pulled Tifa into his arms, and then pretended to be asleep. She'd barely even stirred until the sun shone through the window. She could resist all she liked, but sooner or later she'd want affection from somebody, and he intended to be that person. Right now, she was still trying to get over the shock of Cloud Strife with another guy. After fifteen minutes, Reno knocked on the bathroom door.

"Lockhart, you can't stay in there all day."

"I can if I want." The response was somewhat muffled, but still understandable.

"Suit yourself."

Realising that she was going to stay in the bathroom for quite a while (probably just to avoid him), he decided to look around the town. It would be nice to stay somewhere for a few days, since he'd been travelling almost constantly for weeks.

Once she heard the door of the hotel room click shut, Tifa poked her head out of the bathroom. The blush had finally calmed down - that had been embarrassing, because she never blushed at anything normally.

Anyway, she couldn't stay cooped up inside all day, and she was going to run out of money if she didn't get some kind of job soon. Living in hotel rooms was beginning to get expensive. Perhaps this town would have some job vacancies for her and Reno. That thought made Tifa pause. Had she really just thought of herself and Reno staying together? She replayed the sentence in her mind. Yes, she had. She shook her head, trying to come to terms with the reality of the situation. Something definitely wasn't right about this.

"Tifa!"

She jumped at the sound of her name, wondering if Leon or Cloud had found her so soon. It turned out to be Reno, waving to her from a nearby doorway, and indicating that she should join him.

"Yes, Reno?"

"Didn't you used to work in a bar of some kind?"

As she approached, she could see that Reno stood in the doorway of a bar, and on the wall next to him was an advert for staff. "What are you suggesting?"

"I'm thinking that whatever money you've got won't last that much longer. Besides, you've been paying for everything so far and it's not polite to let the lady pay."

Tifa raised an eyebrow, studying Reno carefully. He appeared to be completely sincere. "Ever worked in a bar, Reno?"

"I start here tonight. Any chance you could show me a few tricks of the trade before then? There's another job available if you want it."

Tifa considered the proposition for less than five seconds. There was no way she'd turn down the job. "I guess we'd better get started."

.-.-.-.-.-.

An hour later, Tifa had discovered that Reno had absolutely no idea about how to serve drinks - he was used to being the customer. Instead, she instructed him to go round and collect the empty glasses from tables, then wash them. He started to protest, but realised she had a point, and shut up. By the time the bar opened for business that evening, Reno and Tifa were well prepared. They hadn't expected the sheer number of customers that arrived, but Tifa wasn't fazed. She'd run a very busy bar for years, after all. Reno soon got the hang of moving through the crowd without dropping his tray of glasses, and Tifa was inordinately proud of him, though she wasn't about to tell him that.

Towards the end of the evening, she was helping to retrieve the empty glasses, when someone slapped her on the behind. Tifa spun round, ready to throw out the offending individual, and found Reno already doing the job for her. That was more like the Reno she remembered from Midgar, and she was relieved to see that he hadn't changed completely.

"Thank you, Reno, though I could have managed."

"I saw what happened and thought that I could show them all that I'm not the wimp they've been calling me." He paused, and winked at her. "Besides, I've seen what you do to people like him. We wouldn't still have jobs if I'd let you get on with it."

Tifa just laughed. What Reno had said was completely true. Nobody had messed with her in Midgar, because they'd all known what would happen to them. Here, she was a newcomer, they didn't know her.

Later, when the last customer had finally gone home, and the doors had been closed, the owner called them over to talk. "I was impressed with you two tonight. The jobs are yours if you want them."

"We do, thank you."

Reno took hold of Tifa's arm and led her outside, very calmly. Once they were out of earshot, they cheered. Reno picked Tifa up and spun her around until they were both dizzy. They had to lean on each other all the way back to the hotel.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The next day, they started looking for somewhere to live - maybe a flat they could rent, anything really, as long as it allowed them to move out of the hotel. They had problems though, because they wouldn't get paid until the end of the week. Eventually, they realised that they'd just have to cope for a few more days.

Lunch was a quiet affair - the unsuccessful house-hunting had left them both feeling very subdued. Tifa pushed her food around her plate, eating very little. Her mind was elsewhere - recalling the temptation she'd felt when she'd woken that morning. She'd almost reached out to Reno, like she used to do with Cloud. If she had, would Reno have taken her in his arms, kissed her, touched her? Or would he have turned away, rejected her? Tifa didn't know, and she wasn't sure which of those scenarios she would have preferred. Thank goodness she'd realised what she was doing and stopped herself.

Reno had known what Tifa had (almost) done that morning, since he'd been awake. He'd known she'd stop herself, because she wasn't recovered enough yet, and because of who he was. Even so, the fact that she'd wanted him, however briefly, was encouraging.

The subdued mood continued into the evening, and even the customers noticed.

"Hey there, beautiful, what's up?"

"The little redhead not man enough for you?"

A spark of anger flared in Tifa's eyes. She picked up a drink she'd just finished making, and poured it all over the man's head. "My name is Tifa. I don't take well to nicknames from total strangers. Neither do I appreciate people insulting my friends. Now get out before I throw you out."

The rest of the men around the table laughed. "Darling, I don't think you could."

"I only give one warning, and you've already had it." They continued laughing and jeering, but Tifa was fed up of them. The ringleader was picked up out of his chair, carried over to the nearest window (which Reno flung open) and unceremoniously dumped outside. "Do any of you doubt me now?"

One fierce glare from Tifa sent them all scuttling for the door, in case she decided to throw the rest of them out. No sooner had the door swung shut behind them than the entire room burst into applause.

"We've been trying to get rid of them for months, and you manage it the first time you see them!"

There were many calls to buy drinks for both Reno and Tifa, and large tips were pressed into their hands.

Tifa had always refused to drink while working before, but it wouldn't have been polite in this situation. At closing time, she sank down into a chair, her head spinning. The last time she'd drunk this much alcohol had been back in Midgar, at the "we saved the world from destruction" party. Back then, there had been plenty of potions and Cura spells to deal with the resulting effects. This time, there were no spells or potions, and she felt very much the worse for wear. Reno, slumped in the chair next to her, didn't look much better.

"That was absolutely hectic."

"I never expected that reaction."

Tifa started to shake her head, then realised it wasn't such a great idea. The room had started to spin, and she felt sick. Reno realised what was going on, and led her quickly in the direction of the toilets. He stayed with her, holding her hair back and murmuring that she'd be fine, that she'd feel better after she'd had some water to drink. When she'd finished puking her guts out, he carried her (slightly unsteadily) back to her chair, and fetched a glass of water. Slowly, she sipped at it, and gradually the room stopped spinning and her vision cleared. In fact, her head felt better surprisingly quickly.

"What did you put in the water, Reno?"

"Soluble painkillers. Thought you might need them."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Think you're capable of walking down the road, so you can get some sleep in a proper bed?"

Cautiously, Tifa stood up. "Wobbling down the road, maybe."

Reno placed an arm around her waist, and took one of her hands in his. "I won't let you fall."

**AN: Yep, a new venture and pairing for me. Axel/Reno. What did you think?**


End file.
